JP2002253081A - Treadmill for pet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a treadmill for a pet, capable of making the pet automatically take appropriate exercise within a limited space in spite of bad weather, without giving stress to the pet. SOLUTION: This treadmill for the pet 1 is equipped with a walking platform 6, picture display means 11, 12A, 12B, a speed detecting means 8, and a control means 10, wherein the walking platform 6 has an endless belt 2 on which the pet P is mounted, support mechanisms 3, 4, 5 which support the endless belt so that the belt can be rotationally moved, and a drive means 7 which rotationally moves the endless belt 2, the picture display means 11, 12A, 12B are arranged around the platform and display the pictures changing in a moving direction of the endless belt 2, the speed detecting means 8 detects the rotationally moving speed of the endless belt 2, and the control means 10 determines the changing speed of the pictures displayed by the picture display means 11, 12A, 12B in accordance with the detected rotationally moving speed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a walking device for pets such as dogs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, pets such as dogs need to walk in order to exercise moderately every day regardless of the weather. However, in bad weather, strolling can be tedious for the owner. Further, in the case of a large dog, a considerably long exercise time (for example, about 1 hour) is required as compared with the exercise time (for example, about 30 minutes) at which a person feels that he / she exercises moderately. Adequate walking can be a burden on the owner. further,
Even if the owner is not in good health, a long-term dog walk is indispensable. Also, in a city with many cars and traffic, a narrow sidewalk or a walk through the road may be a nuisance to pedestrians and traffic.

[0003]

In such a case, a pet may be strolled in a room at home.
It is difficult to secure a space large enough to allow moderate exercise. In addition, in a facility such as a fitness club for pets, there is a method in which an exclusive trainer exercises a moderate amount of exercise, but this is expensive. Further, even in such a facility, it is convenient if a large number of pets can be exercised in a limited space. On the other hand, when exercising in a small room, the dog loses interest in walking and becomes mentally stressed, which may inconvenience health.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and automatically performs appropriate exercise in a limited space regardless of bad weather and without giving stress to pets such as dogs. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pet walking device that can be performed.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a walking device for walking a pet such as a dog, and an endless belt on which the pet is placed, and the endless belt is rotatably supported. A pedestal provided with a supporting mechanism for driving the endless belt, and an image display means arranged at least in front of the pedestal and displaying an image changing in the moving direction of the endless belt; Proposing a pet walking device including a speed detecting means for detecting a rotational movement speed of a belt, and a control means for determining a transition speed of an image displayed by an image display means in accordance with the detected rotational movement speed. I have.

In the above-mentioned walking device, the image display means may be a screen for displaying an image. Further, the image display means may include an endless belt-shaped sheet material representing a photograph or a painting, and a rotation driving means for rotating the sheet material, and a roll-shaped sheet representing the photograph or the painting. The sheet material may be provided with a feeding means for feeding the sheet material.

[0007] Further, the video, photograph or painting may include an owner or other predetermined person, or may include a nearby pet or a heterosexual pet, or a telephone pole,
It is effective to include trees and other members erected on the ground, because the pets can be interested in them.

[0008] Further, it may be further provided with an olfactory stimulating means for releasing an odor related to the image in accordance with the image displayed by the image displaying means. Further, the image display device may further include an auditory stimulus unit that emits sound in accordance with the image displayed by the image display unit.

[0009]

According to the pet walking apparatus of the present invention, when the pet walks while being placed on the endless belt of the walking platform, the endless belt is rotated and moved in accordance with the walking action of the pet, and the pet is placed on the spot. Perform a walking exercise with. Since the image display means for displaying an image changing in the moving direction of the endless belt is arranged at least in front of the walking platform, the pet on the walking platform performs a walking motion while watching the image displayed on the image display unit. .

In this case, the rotation speed of the endless belt is detected by the operation of the speed detection means, and the image speed displayed on the image display means is determined in accordance with the detected rotation speed by the operation of the control means. Therefore, the pet can feel as if he or she is actually walking outdoors by the image displayed by the image display means. Therefore, it is possible to perform a walking exercise for a relatively long time without losing interest in walking, as compared with a case of simply walking indoors. In this case, the speed detecting means also means detecting the rotational speed of the driving means in addition to detecting the rotational movement speed of the endless belt.

If the image display means is a screen and an image is displayed on the screen, the pet can perceive as if it were actually placed in the environment displayed on the screen. Therefore, for example, by displaying an image or the like in a park, a cityscape, or a forest on a screen, it is possible to make a pet feel the atmosphere of the outdoors while staying indoors, and to have an interest in walking. Can last.

Further, if the endless belt-shaped sheet material is rotated by the operation of the rotation driving means, photographs, pictures, and the like shown on the surface of the sheet material are repeatedly displayed at a constant cycle. In this case, by adopting an image that is continuous without interruption at the seam of the endless belt, the image can be displayed continuously during the walking motion.

Further, even if the image display means is constituted by a roll-shaped sheet material representing a photograph or a picture and a feeding means for feeding out the sheet material, similarly, it is sufficient until the sheet material is completely fed. It is possible to display images continuously for a long time.

[0014] In addition, by including the owner or other predetermined person in the video, photograph, or painting, the pet is interested in the person and tries to approach the person, so that the walking exercise can be continued. In particular, when the owner performs an operation of calling the pet in the video displayed on the screen, the pet can be caused to walk accordingly.

[0015] Also, by including a nearby pet, a heterosexual pet, or a telephone pole, a tree, or any other member erected on the ground in the image, the interest of the pet can be similarly caused, and the walking operation can be continued. It becomes possible.

Further, by releasing an odor associated with the image from the olfactory stimulating means in accordance with the image, the pet's interest can be attracted. For example, the smell of food that appeared in the image, the smell of marking on telephone poles, the owner's smell, the smell of pets of the opposite sex, etc. may be prepared in a sealed container and opened by opening according to the image. It is possible.

Further, by emitting a sound from the auditory stimulation means in accordance with the image, it is possible to attract the interest of the pet. For example, by generating the owner's voice and the sound of a dog whistle that appear in the video, it is interesting to place the pet in a virtual reality environment by increasing the presence of the atmosphere represented by the image. it can. as a result,
Pets can continue walking without stress.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A pet walking device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, a pet walking device 1 according to the present embodiment includes an endless belt 2 on which a pet such as a dog is placed, a driving roller 3 and a driven roller 4 that support the endless belt 2, and , A walking platform 6 including a plurality of support rollers 5 (support mechanism), a motor 7 (rotary drive unit) connected to the drive roller 3, and an encoder 8 (speed detection unit) connected to the motor 7 ), An image display means 9 arranged around the pedestal 6, and a control means 10 connected to the image display means 9 and the encoder 8.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the image display means 9 is a front image display device 1 arranged in front of the walking platform 6.
1 and a side image display device 1 arranged on both sides of a walking platform 6
2A and 12B.

The front image display device 11 includes a screen 13 arranged vertically so as to cover the front of the walking platform 6, a projector 14 for projecting an image on the screen 13, and an image for the projector 14. And a video playback device 15 for supplying Video playback device 15
Is an apparatus capable of reproducing a video recorded on a video recording medium such as a video tape or a DVD at a desired reproduction speed. The images recorded on these image recording media are images that change such that the appearing person, scenery, cityscape, object, and the like approach the pet P when viewed from the pet P on the walking platform 6. is there.

Further, the side image display devices 12A, 12A
B also includes screens 16 and 17 arranged along the vertical direction so as to cover both sides of the walking platform 6, and projectors 18 and 17 projecting different images on the screens 16 and 17, respectively.
19, and image reproducing devices 20 and 21 for supplying images to the projectors 18 and 19, respectively. The screens 16 and 17, the projectors 18 and 19, and the video reproducing devices 20 and 21 may be the same as those of the front image display device 11, but the video recorded on the video recording medium is The image of the side image display device 12 </ b> A that is arranged at the right side is an image that changes so as to flow from left to right toward the screen 16. In addition, the side image display device 1 disposed on the left side when facing forward
2B is an image that changes so as to flow from right to left toward the screen 17.

The image displayed on the front image display device 11 and the image displayed on the side image display devices 12A and 12B are continuous from the front image display device 11 to the side image display devices 12A and 12B. It is preferable that it is comprised as follows. That is, when viewed from the pet P on the walking platform 6, the front image display device 1
After the image of the object appearing in 1 gradually approaches, from the screen 13 of the front image display device 11 to the screens 16 and 17 of the side image display devices 12A and 12B.
It is preferable to be configured to switch continuously and seamlessly.

The control means 10 calculates the rotational speed of the endless belt 2 on the basis of the rotational speed of the motor 7 detected by the encoder 8, and according to the rotational speed, each of the projectors 14, 18, The playback speed of the video to be supplied to the playback device 19 is determined.
It is configured to instruct.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 22 denotes a collar attached to the pet P, reference numeral 23 denotes a rope attached to the collar, and reference numeral 24 denotes a column fixed behind the endless belt 2. Rope 2
For example, on the 3 or collar, or on the rope attachment part of the support,
A tension detecting means (not shown) for detecting a tension applied to the rope 23 is provided. The output of the tension detecting means is sent to the control means 10, and the motor 7 is rotated at a speed corresponding to the detected tension.

The operation of the walking device 1 according to this embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described below. In order to walk the pet P by the walking device 1 according to the present embodiment,
First, the pet P is guided on the endless belt 2 constituting the walking platform 6 in a state in which the reproducing devices 15, 20, 21 are activated and images are projected on the projectors 14, 18, 19, respectively. In this state, the motor 7 of the endless belt 2 is not operating, and the image is stopped. With the pet P riding on the endless belt 2, the lobe 23 attached to the collar 22 is fixed to a column 24 provided behind the endless belt 2. Since the pet P who is willing to walk looks at the images projected on the projectors 14, 18, and 19 and tries to move forward,
The movement is detected by the tension detecting means and the motor 7 is operated.

When the motor 7 operates to drive the endless belt 2, the pet P on the endless belt 2 is moved backward by the amount of walking by the movement of the endless belt 2.
The walking operation is performed at the fixed position.

Encoder 8 attached to motor 7
Detects the rotation speed of the motor 7 and sends it to the control device 10. The control device 10 calculates the rotation movement speed of the endless belt 3 based on the rotation speed of the motor 7, and operates at the reproduction speed according to the calculation. Have three playback devices 15, 20,
A command is output to 21. Therefore, at the same time as the operation of the motor 7 is started, the video is reproduced so that the video changes at the same speed as the walking speed of the pet P, and the reproduced video is
The images are projected onto screens 13, 16, 17 by projectors 14, 18, 19, respectively. The control device 1
0 may directly change the reproduction speed based on the detected tension.

According to the walking device 1 configured as described above, the pet P on the walking platform 6 changes its surrounding image according to its own walking speed, so that it is possible to determine whether the pet P is walking outdoors. You can feel like that. Therefore, it is possible to continue a sufficiently moderate walking motion while satisfying the willingness to walk by the scenery that changes one after another around oneself.

In this case, the front image display device 11
In the approximate center of the image, the images of the objects that appear one after another gradually increase, and are continuously displayed on the screens 16 and 17 of the side image display devices 12A and 12B. 6, the image of the object appearing in the distance gradually approaches and flows to the left and right, and passes on both sides of itself from the front to the back, so that the pet P appears by the surrounding images. You can feel as if you are walking in the landscape.

In particular, since the pet P is pulled from behind by the ropes 23, the user can experience the same feeling as a daily walk in which the pet walks before the owner. In addition, a pet P who is willing to walk further and wants to move forward
In the case of (1), the motor 7 is controlled according to the tension value detected by the rope 23 or the tension detecting means provided near the rope.
Is increased, and the speed of the image projected on the screen is correspondingly increased, so that the pet P's willingness to walk can be satisfied.

The image to be transformed around the pet P may be a large park or a small path of a forest where the pet P can enjoy an exhilarating walking feeling, or may be a cityscape to which the pet P is accustomed. In particular, in order not to lose interest in the walking exercise, it is preferable to include an image that interests the pet P in the video.

Examples of the image that attracts the interest of the pet P include, for example, an image of the owner and other persons who the pet P is fond of,
An image of a favorite food such as food, an image of a pet of the opposite sex, and an image of a structure standing on the ground such as a telephone pole, a tree, and a post box when the pet P is a dog. It is preferable that these images appear occasionally at an interval, rather than always appearing in the video, in order to attract the interest of the pet P that has started to decline.

Next, a walking device 30 for a pet P according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The walk device 30 according to the present embodiment is different from the walk device 1 according to the above embodiment in the side image display device 31. Note that members having the same configuration as the walking device 1 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the side image display device 31 of the walking device 30 according to the present embodiment includes a belt screen 32 having a sheet material on the surface of which a photograph or a painting is formed as an endless belt. A pair of rollers 33 and 34 for holding the belt screen 32 in an extended state;
And a motor 35 (rotation driving means) for driving one of the driving rollers 33 among the rotation rollers 3 and 34. Motor 3
Numeral 5 is connected to the control means 10 so that the rotational speed of the motor 7 that rotates the endless belt 2 of the walking platform 6 can be adjusted according to the rotational speed.

The photographs or paintings shown on the surface of the belt screen 32 are formed, for example, to be continuous at the seam of the sheet material, and when the drive roller 33 is continuously rotated by the operation of the motor 35. On the side of the pedestal 6, a continuous landscape image without any interruption is continuously changing.

The side image display device 3 configured as described above
1 are arranged on the left and right of the walking platform 6 as shown in FIG. In the left and right side image display devices 31, the rotation directions are opposite directions as indicated by arrows in FIG. As a result, when viewed from the pet P on the pedestal 6, the surrounding image changes so as to flow from the front to the back.

That is, the belt screen 32 is rotated at a speed adjusted according to the rotational movement speed of the endless belt 2 of the walking platform 6, so that the landscape of the side can be viewed from the front during the walking movement of the pet P. Since the pet P flows backward, the pet P can always maintain the feeling of walking.

In place of the endless belt screen 32 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a roll screen 40 made of a sufficiently long sheet material wound in a roll shape is provided. A side image display device 43 that includes a take-up roll 41 that takes up the roll screen 40 and a motor 42 that rotates the take-up roll 41 may be employed. On the surface of the roll screen 40, pictures or pictures continuous in the longitudinal direction are shown.

The endless belt 2 of the walking platform 6 is rotated, its rotational speed is detected, and the motor 42 is driven at a speed corresponding to the rotational speed to wind up the roll screen 40 so that the pet P walks. During the exercise, the left and right images can be changed so as to flow from front to back at a speed corresponding to the walking speed of the pet P.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 44 denotes a speaker (auditory stimulating means), which outputs sound in accordance with the image displayed on the front image display means 11 or the side image display means 31. I have. For example, if the image appearing on the front image display means 11 is an image of the owner, the sound of the owner or the sound of the dog whistle sounded by the owner is output in accordance with the image to alert the pet's attention and to walk. To help create interest.

Further, particularly when the pet is a dog, the sense of smell is developed, and therefore, it is effective to provide an olfactory stimulating means (not shown) to draw the pet's attention. This olfactory stimulation means, for example, in the sealed container, the owner, food, marking, sealing the smell of the opposite sex, etc.,
According to the type of image displayed on the image display means 11,
It may be possible to stimulate the smell of the pet by opening the sealed container.

In the case of the belt screen 32 and the image display means 31 and 43 of the roll screen 40 type shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, other dogs are placed on the poles and trees at the screen surface. A substance that emits the odor of the marking may be applied, or a microcapsule containing the substance may be embedded so that the odor is emitted when those images flow along the side of the walking platform 6. . In this case, when the image disappears from the side of the walking platform 6, it is effective to deodorize those smells so that the attention of the pet does not go to the rear of the walking platform 6.

When the pet P is a dog, the pet P in contact with an image of an object standing on the ground, such as a telephone pole or a tree, displayed on the side image display means 12A, 12B, 31, 43 is displayed. It is conceivable to perform marking on a utility pole or the like of an image. In addition, urination may occur during a walk. In this case, urination is generally performed at a roadside, such as at a wall, at a plant, at the base of a telephone pole, or the like. Therefore, a gutter-shaped saucer for receiving the urine and urination for marking performed on the screen and falling along the screen may be arranged below the screen along the longitudinal direction of the screen. Good.

In place of this, a means for detecting the impulse of marking or urination, for example, a temperature sensor disposed in the vicinity of the bladder, is provided below the screens 32 and 40. Alternatively, a foldable urinal bowl may be arranged by sliding or swinging. Alternatively, the dog may be made to wear a urine bag or a diaper in advance.

In this case, when the pet P stops for marking or urination, for example, the movement of the endless belt 2 and the image or By stopping the transition of the image, the pet P can achieve the purpose without feeling any discomfort.

The above is the case of the pet P who has a strong desire to walk, who wants to spontaneously perform the walking movement. A rope 23 may be connected to 24. If the motor 7 is operated while the pet P is placed on the walking platform 6, the pet P rides on the endless belt 2 and is moved rearward. As a result, the pet P is pulled forward by the rope 23, as if The walking operation is started by prompting the owner to walk.

In this case, the endless belt 2 is configured to have a sufficient length, and the length of the rope 23 that ties the pet P to the support 24 is sufficiently long, or a part or all of the rope 23 is formed of an elastic body ( By using rubber, a spring, or the like), the pet P can relatively freely move on the endless belt, so that the stress felt when the pet P is restrained can be reduced. Further, with this configuration, even if the pet P finds a utility pole appearing in the image, walks on the endless belt 2 at a relatively high speed, approaches the utility pole, and stops to mark there, the endless belt 2 And the side image display means 12A, 12B,
Since the images appearing at 31 and 43 are moving at the same speed, the pet P performs the marking without feeling any discomfort, and the rope 23 is stretched at a certain position, so that the pet P can walk and be pulled by the owner. Prompted to continue the walk.

Further, the tension detecting means provided on the support post 24 or the rope 23 detects a point in time at which the pet P stops on the endless belt 2 and the tension applied to the rope 23 increases, and the rotational movement of the endless belt 2 is performed. The speed may be reduced to prevent a sudden external force from being applied to the pet P. Also, due to the tension of the rope 23,
The walking speed of the pet P may be detected, and the rotation speed of the endless belt 2 may be changed according to the walking speed. For example, the rope 2 fixed to the front support 24
When the tension of the endless belt 3 increases, the rotational movement speed of the endless belt 2 may be reduced.

A heart rate monitor may be attached to the pet P, and the rotational speed of the endless belt 2 of the walking platform 6 may be adjusted according to the heart rate of the pet P. Also, based on the measured heart rate, walking exercise duration, etc.,
It may be managed to execute a predetermined exercise plan.

In the above embodiment, the walking platform 6
Although the motor 7 is employed as a driving means for rotating and moving the endless belt 2, the leg force of the pet P itself may be used as the driving means instead of the motor 7. A human may be driven by human power.

[0051]

As described above, according to the pet walking apparatus according to the present invention, the surrounding image changes in accordance with the rotational movement speed of the endless belt. Pet walking on the
Despite walking in a certain place, you can get the feeling as if you are exercising in a large space, and you can do enough moderate exercise without losing interest in walking exercise This has the effect.

Further, by disposing a screen around the pedestal on which the pet is riding and displaying an image on the screen, the pet can feel more realistic presence. As a result, interest in walking exercise can be maintained. Further, by using a plurality of types of images, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of malaise for walking exercise. Therefore, the walking exercise can be continued without giving mental stress to the pet.

If the image display means is constituted by an endless belt-shaped or roll-screened sheet material, the same effect as the projection of an image by a projector can be achieved at low cost.

Also, by including the owner and other predetermined persons, pets of the opposite sex, telephone poles, trees and other members erected on the ground in the displayed image, the attention of the pet is raised, and the interest in the walking movement is raised. The walking motion can be maintained for a relatively long time. Furthermore, by providing an olfactory stimulating unit that emits an odor associated with the image in accordance with the image and an auditory stimulating unit that emits a sound in accordance with the image, it is possible to more effectively alert the pet's attention. effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a pet walking device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a side image display device according to another embodiment of the pet walking device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing a pet walking device using the side image display device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a lateral image display device according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

P Pet 1, 30 Walking device 2 Endless belt 3 Drive roller (support mechanism) 4 Follower roller (support mechanism) 5 Support roller (support mechanism) 6 Walking table 7 Motor (drive means) 8 Encoder (speed detection means) 10 Control means 11 Front image display device (image display means) 12A, 12B, 31, 43 Side image display device (image display means) 13, 16, 17 screen 32 Belt screen (screen) 40 Roll screen (screen) 35, 42 Motor ( (Rotary drive means) 44 Speaker (audible stimulation means)

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A walking device for walking a pet such as a dog, comprising: an endless belt for carrying the pet; a support mechanism for rotatably supporting the endless belt; and driving means for rotating and moving the endless belt. A walking platform that is arranged at least in front of the walking platform, and an image display unit that displays an image that changes in the moving direction of the endless belt; a speed detection unit that detects a rotational movement speed of the endless belt; A control unit for determining a transition speed of an image displayed by the image display unit in accordance with the rotational movement speed. 2. The pet walking device according to claim 1, wherein the image display means is a screen for displaying an image. 3. The pet walking device according to claim 1, wherein said image display means comprises an endless belt-like sheet material representing a photograph or a picture, and a rotation driving means for rotating said sheet material. 4. The pet walking device according to claim 1, wherein the image display means includes a roll-shaped sheet material representing a photograph or a picture, and a feeding means for feeding the sheet material. 5. The pet walking device according to claim 1, wherein the video, photograph, or painting includes an owner or another predetermined person. 6. The pet walking device according to claim 1, wherein the video, the photograph, or the painting includes a nearby pet. 7. The video, photograph or painting is a telephone pole,
The pet walking device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a tree or other member erected on the ground. 8. The pet walk according to claim 1, further comprising an olfactory stimulus unit that emits an odor associated with the image in accordance with the image displayed by the image display unit. apparatus. 9. The pet walking device according to claim 1, further comprising an auditory stimulus unit that emits a sound in accordance with the image displayed by the image display unit.